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Lagos Episode 7
(For this episode, Captain Jack was off doing pirate stuff and Circe was involved in some sort of magical event.) It was a dark and stormy night (of course) and Valkris was stomping about her house, unable to sleep. Every so often, a crash of thunder made her remember how awful it was to sleep on the streets on nights like this. She was almost relieved when her comm. link recited the holographic doctor's phrase from Star Trek, "Please state the nature of the medical emergency" that she'd set to indicate Dr. Cary was calling. Oriana sounded half-embarrassed, half-nervous. She'd been seeing things around the medical center, she said, a little boy there one moment and gone the next. They were so busy, she had almost no time to sleep but when she did, she had strange dreams about a surgery she'd never performed, on that little boy. Her supervisor told her she was losing her grip, and she was half-afraid that was true, but she wanted someone to check things out for her, someone not on staff who would either tell her that she really was losing her mind or who would be able to get rid of whatever it was, if she wasn't. Valkris had no idea, one way or the other, but it sounded like something her neighbor, Dr. Goulet, would find interesting. For herself, heading to the medical center and doing something for her friend had to be better than struggling with her insomnia. She gave Oriana the Ghostbuster's number, but in another moment, Oriana called her back: Dr. Goulet wasn't answering. Valkris splashed over to his place, muttering to herself about how he'd never get his business up if he refused to answer the comm., and what was he doing sleeping at a time like this anyhow. If she was awake, everyone else should be too, so on her walk, she left messages for the rest of the team, telling them to come to the Apapa Medical Center. She only managed to reach Dr. Chloe - maybe the three of them would be enough. Banging on Dr. Goulet's door, she woke him and told him about Oriana's problem. At first bleary with sleep, he suddenly caught on: this was a job for his Ghostbuster business! His first job! He threw piles of equipment into his old ambulance and tore off with Valkris white-knuckled beside him, sirens blaring. At the door, they found Chloe waiting for them and burst in, eager to confront whatever challenge the medical center held (probably playing the Ghostbusters theme). But first, they had to face down an angry nurse, complaining about the noise. When Dr. Cary arrived, she found Dr. Goulet, Valkris and Chloe sitting subdued in the waiting area, exchanging awkward smiles with the sick people. Dr. Goulet, on being introduced to her, refused the offer of a tour, wanting to get right to work. "I see him mostly around here," Dr. Cary explained in a muted whisper, after leading them to a corridor. "He is here just for an instant, sometimes I only see him out of the corner of my eye." Valkris pulled out her tricorder, and aimed it around the hallway. "Sensors indicate a significant decrease in temperature, Capt...er doctor," she reported. Dr. Goulet, observing in astral, saw something darting around a corner and confirmed that something was really happening. Oriana, reassured, excused herself to return to work. Valkris, Dr. Goulet and Chloe followed the cold trail around the corner. It led them to the entrance of the cafeteria, but the doors were firmly shut. "I am certain I can open this," announced Valkris, rummaging in her bag. She pulled out a battered autopicker and, humming, set it to work on the lock. A moment later, sparks flew and the lights on the autopicker went dark. Valkris confidently tried to open the door and then flung her full weight back, yanking on the handle, still trying to look confident. The autopicker had somehow welded itself into the lock. "Erm, this may take a little longer than I thought," she said nervously. She pulled out more tools, and started wrestling with the doorknob. "We could just go get the key," offered Chloe. "I know where the janitors keep it." Valkris grunted in reply, pulling screws and metal plates off the door. Eventually she yanked off the doorknob, still stuck to the autopicker, and put them both into her bag. Inside the room, a strange sight waited for them. The tables, chairs and other furniture had been made into an elaborate pyramid, barely balanced. Flipping open her tricorder again, Valkris announced that the cold trail was concentrated in the area. Dr. Goulet astrally perceived, and saw several spirits manipulating the furniture. On spotting him, they scattered, and the furniture crashed down. An angry nurse ran in. "What are you doing here? There are people trying to sleep," she yelled. Chloe stepped forward to calm her, and the nurse, recognizing her, said "Well, clean up this mess, at least, and keep the noise down." "Those were phantoms," Dr. Goulet said once she'd left. "Spirits of the dead, who left things undone in this life and can't move on. They don't usually remember much about what came before death. I need to talk with one." Leaving the cafeteria, Valkris hoped that nobody would notice the missing doorknob before they left. Prying it off the autopicker was going to take some time. "One of the spirits went through that wall," said Dr. Goulet, gesturing. "We need to go in that room and see if we can find him." The room turned out to be a staff lounge, complete with coffee maker, vending machines, trideo set and other appliances. A chill in the air said they were in the right place. One of the vending machines began to glow and then rattle violently. Candy shot out of it with surprising force. A grumpy doctor stormed in to unplug the machine, muttering that this kept happening. Even unplugged, the machine continued to spit candy. Chloe calmed down the doctor while Dr. Goulet spoke to the spirit. The spirit, that of a young Yoruba boy, seemed unimpressed by Dr. Goulet's suggestion that he move on to the metaplanes. Eventually, he left, bored. After describing the boy's pajamas, he and Valkris found images of pokemon on the matrix. The boy probably died sometime around 1990-2010, when the hospital was new. Over the intercom, the team heard a code blue. In the hallway, lots of people rushed to a room across the hall. Not wanting to interfere, Dr. Goulet astrally projected himself into the room to observe. There, he spotted a malevolent spirit, in the form of a grim reaper complete with scythe. He summoned a spirit to assist him, but the grim reaper was only observing. The doctors were frantically trying to stabilize a patient, the victim of a heart attack. Eventually, their efforts paid off but the grim reaper chose that moment to intervene, trying to cause the patient's death. Before it could, Dr. Goulet sent his spirit to protect the patient, and the grim fled the unexpected attack. Before anyone could do more than draw a relieved breath, the lights flickered and died. A back-up generator hummed into life, and the lights came on again, but only for a moment. In the darkness, Dr. Cary called for Valkris to help. "You are pretty handy with tools, right? I'll show you where the generator is. We really need it back up, or things are going to get really bad here." She glanced anxiously at the patient still hovering near death. About to follow her, Valkris noticed all the equipment in the room was powerless as well. "Dr. Pie, do you have another power supply?" she asked. Dr. Goulet nodded and ran to the truck, to pick up his spare. Working quickly, the two adapted it to supply electricity to the equipment in the room, and Dr. Cary bustled around to help the patient once more. Valkris, Dr. Goulet and Chloe headed towards the basement, to deal with the generator. But at the bottom of the stairs, Dr. Goulet and Chloe turned to see Valkris shuddering at the top, gnawing her upper lip with her tusks. "It looks bad down there," squeaked the ork nervously. "Not that I'm scared, but uh... how bad is it?" "I see that grim down here," replied Dr. Goulet softly. "It's controlling three spirits and they're doing...something." Raising his arms, Dr. Goulet tried to banish the spirit. But his magical commands glanced off it, and it fled again. As it vanished through the wall, a chunk of plaster fell off and revealed a hole in the wall leading further downwards. Dr. Goulet muttered something angrily, clutching his head. Valkris, whispering to herself in Klingon, eased her way down the steps and then became engrossed by the problem with the generator. "It's not too bad," she said finally. "Just a few adjustments..." In moments, the generator was whirring softly again, and the lights flickered back on. Dr. Cary appeared at the top of the stairs. "Thank you," she said emphatically. "I think we can save his life. Uh, what's that?" She pointed at the hole. "We're not sure yet," replied Valkris. "But we're about to look into it." Peering through the hole, she whispered to Chloe, "Those are rats, right? Not tribbles?" "What are tribbles? Those are definitely rats," replied the nurse. The three went cautiously into the hole, down a rusting ladder. "It looks like the center above," said Dr. Goulet, his voice echoing strangely in the hallway. "Same floor plan. I think they built the one above on the ruins of the old one. Looks like it burned down." The smells seemed to choke them, an eye-watering combination of sewage and rot. Everybody pulled out a respirator, to filter out the foul air. A foot of water on the floor glistened as they walked cautiously through it, following the track of the chilled air. Suddenly, Dr. Goulet in front yelled and slipped into the water. They had reached a pit hidden under the water that had sucked him in. Soaked to the skin, he accepted Chloe's help out. "I don't think we can go on that way," he said mildly. "Should we turn back?" Almost before he finished his words, a dark heap flung itself towards them from the dark water. It seemed to be a mound of rotting dead animals and garbage, glued together like a shell for some monster within it. Before anyone else could move, Chloe had shifted her rifle and shot it cleanly. It sank under the water without a sound. After a stunned silence, Valkris said "I'm glad I can't smell that." "We need to continue that way," said Dr. Goulet. He summoned a bound water spirit and instructed it to remove all the water from the passages. "Ugh, do I have to?" whined the spirit. "It's all gross and stuff. Like, gag me with a dead skunk." Dr. Goulet insisted and the spirit, fastidiously not touching the water, found a way to drain the water from the floor. Although everyone was glad for drier footing, the disgusting mass of dead bodies and rotting debris on the floor made them almost wish the water back again. "I just know there are dead tribbles down there," whispered Valkris, trying hard not to look. "I just know it." At the end of the passage, Dr. Goulet found a magical portal, looking like a continuing passage, but into a cleaner and fresher hospital. Looking it over, he told the others, "It’s bad. It may look okay but there are bad things beyond that, things that we'd be better off not facing." "Tribbles," murmured Valkris, shuddering. "I knew there would be tribbles." Dr. Goulet, lost in thought, seemed to be struggling with himself. "We can't go back though. We must make the spirits rest." He clutched his head, groaning. "I can hardly think with my head throbbing like this!" Chloe pulled out her medical kit and silently offered him some pills. They seemed to work quickly, and he stood straighter. "We must go on. If we turn back, that grim will continue tormenting the phantoms here. And no, I don't imagine we'll find tribbles there, whatever they are." Before the ork could explain, he stepped through the portal. Without hesitation, Chloe did the same, her rifle ready. For a long moment, Valkris struggled within herself. If there were tribbles, her friends would be eaten alive. How could she turn back? "Today is a good day to die," she growled to herself, readying her bat'leth and stepping inside. Valkris found herself in a clean hospital room, which seemed built for trolls. All the furniture was huge and she couldn't see a single piece of her own equipment, except a strange looking bat'leth. As she slid off the bed, she cursed herself for ever being even a little impatient with Dr. Cary's short-legged stride - she suddenly saw how frustrating it must be to struggle with everything being made for bigger folk. A glimpse of herself in the mirror made her gasp in surprise. She was a little kid, a Yoruba boy. Fascinated, she pressed her fingers to her face. A scuttling behind her swung her head around. There was a cage full of spiders, small and watching her through their beady eyes. She knew just glancing at it that they belonged to her. When she reached for the handle, she could see herself, as if through a hundred little eyes. Not only were they hers - she could control them with her thoughts, as if they were drones. But where were her team-mates? They had to be somewhere about, unless they had already defeated the grim and left without her. At the very least, she had to get out of this room and find clothes and equipment. Closing her eyes, she sent her new spiders into the hallway, urging them to explore and report back. In the halls they reported strangely faceless beings, dressed as doctors as well as spirits drifting over the floors in groups. One spider found a patient, a Yoruba man staring at himself in the mirror. "Dr. Pie? Chloe? Is that you?" Valkris whispered through the spider. Jerking back, the man stomped at the spider which darted away. "A talking spider! And it knows my name!" "It's me! Valkris!" yelped the spider. Stopping in his tracks, Dr. Goulet said, "Fascinating. Were you perhaps an insect spirit in your past life? Why would you take the shape of a spider?" Interrupting Valkris's babbled explanation, Dr. Goulet said, "Well, we need to meet somewhere. Can you tell me when it is safe to leave the room?" He gathered a version of his power pack, ready to move out. Meanwhile, another spider had found Chloe, in the form of a Yoruba woman. It had also found a single shot rifle, as Valkris reported to Chloe. After collecting the rifle and an odd medical kit, Chloe snuck to the room where the team-mates met up, marveling at how strange everyone looked. "We can make a weapon out of the equipment here," said Valkris. "A metal gurney, charged with a live wire, shove it down the hall at those things and... Wham!" Her idea took shape quickly and Chloe agreed to shove it down the hall at their foes. Racing after it, the three saw one group of faceless doctors vanish, shocked by the gurney. A group of drifting spirits gathered to face them. Chloe lazily destroyed one, reloading her rifle with practiced ease. Valkris swung with her toy-sized bat'leth. In the corner of her eye, she could see her spiders gathering to form one large spider. Attempting to attack, it stumbled over its own legs and fell over. "Stop embarrassing me," she hissed at it. Dr. Goulet fired his electrical weapon, destroying another spirit. The spirits, charging en masse, slimed Chloe and drew a startled yell from Dr. Goulet. Chloe shot again, and the spider gathered its legs beneath it to finish off an attacker. The final two spirits were destroyed by Dr. Goulet and Chloe. The team approached a door, a place deadly to any of the small spiders which approached it, the bigger form seemingly unharmed by whatever lurked there. Flinging it open, they found four grim reapers awaiting them. They rushed to attack, but Valkris, seeing a strange flicker to three of them, shouted, "Attack with my spider!" and sent it at the one she felt sure was real. In surprisingly short order, the grim reaper fell to the combined shots of Chloe's rifle and Dr. Goulet's electrical weapon. The giant spider chittered gleefully, performing a strange victory dance. Chloe's quick eyes spotted a stethoscope trickling to the floor where the grim fell. When she plucked it up, the room shifted and the team-mates found themselves back where the portal had been. It was gone now. Wearily, they climbed back into the medical center, and found Dr. Cary dozing in the lounge. "You smell awful! What happened?" she asked. Dr. Goulet explained what they found. Dr. Cary, torn between exhaustion and relief, gratefully offered some of her personal savings as payment, and the use of the center's showers. = Quotes = * Dr. Pie (to the ghost of a little boy fiddling with a coffee maker) "Leave the coffee alone; it'll stunt your growth." * Dr. Pie (on confronting a grim reaper): "I could kill myself. That will get its attention." * Erica's notes on facing a shambler: "Initiative pass 1: Chloe shoots it. The end." = People met = * Dr. Oriana Cary (LayShad) = Rewards = * 7 Karma (+1 for Erica) * +2 Loyalty with Dr. Cary * 700 nuyen * A stethoscope - a magical focus of some sort